School of Chemistry launches new AI research initiative for Africa

4 September 2019 - Wits University

Africans should be the contributors, shapers and owners of the coming advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, says Professor Zeblon Vilakazi.

TheMolecular Sciences Institute(MSI) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa, in partnership with the Cirrus Initiative, today announced plans for a new artificial intelligence (AI) research operation in Africa.

Announcing the Cirrus Initiative during the2019 AI Expo Africain Cape Town,Professor Zeblon Vilakazi,Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Postgraduate Affairs, said Wits is one of the leading institutions inmachine learninganddata scienceresearch in Africa, and that this collaboration will boost the University’s efforts as it envisions a step change in the research and application of AI in the region.

Hosted by the MSI in the WitsSchool of Chemistry, the newly formedCirrus Initiativewill focus on the analysis of research data in chemistry, with a view to collaborate with physics, technology and engineering projects using machine learning.

Advances in AI and its application in addressing the challenges facing Africa have the potential to drive innovation in academia and industry and shape future societies. There is a growing need for talent, infrastructure and funding to support such innovation and to fully realise the opportunities presented in our technology and data-driven world.

“To become competitive in this new wave of innovation fuelled by AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and with the substantial accumulation of resources and investments in new technologies in North America, Europe and Asia, require efforts in southern Africa on a magnitude far greater than any previous endeavour spanning academia and industry,” says Vilakazi.

Cirrus aims to create a collaborative university and industry platform supporting an ecosystem that fosters innovation and entrepreneurialism. As the host university, Wits will lead the Cirrus Initiative’s cooperation efforts with universities, institutes, Centres of Excellence and research groups in Africa.

While Cirrus will initially focus on the research and application of AI in chemical, physical and biological systems, its capability will be extended to the benefit of other fields to foster the growth of a strong scientific ecosystem on the continent. Numerous direct and indirect employment opportunities for scientists and engineers will also be created.

“Combining Africa’s vibrant talent with the building of a globally competitive platform for leading scientific research and application will drive innovation and undoubtedly foster economic development in the region. In our pursuit of knowledge creation, it is also critical that Africans are the contributors, shapers and owners of the coming advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning,” says Vilakazi.

As part of the effort to foster collaboration, Cortex Group have entered into a cooperation agreement with the Cirrus Initiative to lead the establishment of Cirrus FOUNDRY Cape, an operation focused on developing start-ups and helping them move from ideation to commercial operation. Their team has been at the forefront of collaborative AI efforts in Africa and by working with Wits and Cirrus will be able to unlock even more opportunities.

About the Cirrus Initiative

The creation of a cooperation program: Supporting interdisciplinary cooperation spanning academia and industry around the world through its network, boosting the application of AI technologies and ensuring the transformative potential benefits for the region.

Adding State-of-art computing to the current research infrastructure: Supported by teams of hardware, software, machine learning and data engineers. It will bring together engineering teams, researchers, computing infrastructure and extensive scientific instrumentation to enable a step change in research efforts of academia and industry in the region.

Building Open Learning: Ensuring inclusive participation, the dissemination of knowledge and ideas and the development of the next generation of AI researchers.

The Cirrus FOUNDRY and Cirrus FOUNDRY Fund: TheCirrus FOUNDRYwill create a collaborative environment connecting start-ups to students, researchers, faculty, corporate partners and capital concerned with real world AI innovation. It will ensure that start-ups have the necessary resources, people and skills to better tackle the challenging problems across a range of industries and drive innovation toward significant impact on society. Importantly, the Cirrus FOUNDRY will specialise in fostering support for early stage innovations and in helping start-ups make the transition from science to real world application. Through theCirrus FOUNDRY Fund, funding provided to start-ups will ensure that they are not wholly dependent on outside capital and will increase the short-term success of the start-up by bridging the “Valley of Death” – the challenge of turning a start-up idea or scientific research into a large-scale commercial application.

The Cirrus Initiative will also initiate several research assistance programmes, including:

A Research to Communication programme

An Open Learning programme

A Residency programme

A PhD Internship programme

A Postdoctorate programme

An Assistantship programme

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Wits

Wits University has anumber of highly skilledartificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)researcherspiloting the growth ofthis field in Africa andhasthe only researchers on the continent to publish regularly in all major international AI, ML and roboticsconferences.

AI/ML and Data Science are twoof 15 areas of research excellenceat Wits. Initspursuit to create a strong research communitythat can find African solutions to AI challenges, Wits has several interdisciplinary collaborations in AI/ML education, research and innovation.

The first Deep Learning Indabain Africa was hosted at Wits in 2017, and has since attracted more than 1,000 of the most ambitious and skilled machine learning practitioners and researchers from across the continent.